Erika Watson — Philadelphia Recording Connection

Why hello there! My name is Erika. I'm a soon-to-be 19 year old with a love for music. I grew up in Massachusetts and moved to Pennsylvania seven years ago. I started learning how to play the piano two years ago, and I started learning how to play the trumpet before I moved. 

I got very interested in music as a career during my Sophomore year of high school when I took a Music Technology course. Although the course was very basic, I found myself really enjoying it. One of the requirements was that we had to learn how to play the keyboard, which was when I started playing. Unfortunately I can't practice my piano skills much because I don't have the money or room for a piano. My junior year I decided to take a Music Theory course. The year after that I moved up to study AP Music Theory; I finished last month and graduated from Council Rock North.

I found out about the Recording Connection early in my junior year and danced around applying for a while. I didn't want to disappoint people by not going to a four-year college, but I firmly believed that this program would be better for me, and so a few months ago I applied. Here I am now! I met with Joey Heier for my interview last month and now I'm starting the program. As for my work history, right now I'm waiting to hear back from a year-round job I applied for. Late September through October I have the pleasure of dressing up on weekends working in the corn maze at Shady Brook Farm for their Horrorfest Event.

In my major, audio engineering, I am super excited to learn hands on. I decided I didn't want to necessarily make music, but I wanted to be in the process of making it. When I heard about audio engineering as a career path I was ecstatic. My favorite thing is that I get to be behind the scenes of making music from the beginning to end.